Surge protection elements are often used to protect electric and electronic apparatuses against surges which may be transmitted via the electric mains. In particular, surges of this type can be produced from lightning discharges which, for example, couple into the infrastructure of the mains via an earthing system.
Such a surge protection element is known for example from EP 0 987 803 B1 in the form of a device for protecting against surges in electric apparatuses to which the device is connected via connection means comprising at least two connectors, the device also having a lightning protection cell, the first pole of which is directly connected to a first connector. A second pole of the cell is connected to a first conductor portion. The device further comprises a second conductor portion, which is directly connected to a second connector. In addition, the device has safety fuses to keep a stable slider in electrical contact with the conductor portions in an operating position of the device, the means being used to permanently push the slider into an open position of the device, in which position the slider is no longer in contact with the two conductor portions.
However, a surge protection element of this type is only suitable for relatively low-energy pulse loading and for low dynamic current forces resulting therefrom. In this case, dynamic current forces are determined mostly by the pulse form and in part also by the magnitude of the amplitude in the surge current.